A Great Surprise Today

Image by Michael Lam; Copyright Michael Formichelli

Today I got an email in my inbox detailing how Google found one of my ads "misleading" and that it would be down until the problem was corrected. Somewhat puzzled I called in and got a very pleasant Google rep to explain the issue to me (I put the wrong thing in the wrong box, basically). While the conversation was going on, and I was starting to feel more and more like an old man, the rep suddenly commented on how she loves books and asked me what my series was about.

I was a bit taken aback by the unexpected nature of the question but happily explained, "The Blood Siren Series is about the attempted overthrow of a government 400 years in the future, and how the hero and his allies attempt to foil the plot." I thought this would tune out my helpful Google rep and that would be that... but it didn't. She asked if I sold my books outside the US (I do), and then stated that she was already following my author profile on Amazon (which the ad links to).

With my issue resolved (and hopefully the soon to be restoration of my ads) we were at the conclusion of our conversation. I said (and meant) that I would love to hear her opinion of my books if and once she reads them, and she assured me she would write a review when she did.

After hanging up the phone (and giving her a great review on the exit poll- one which she earned in her patience and helpfulness) I found myself feeling nervous.

Nervous?

It seemed a curious emotion to feel after someone expressed such interest in my writing. This is what authors want, after all. I should be ecstatic that someone showed interest, but I was quite nervous—butterflies in the stomach and everything. Don't get me wrong, I was and am happy with her interest, but the more I thought about it the more I realized that I was nervous because someone, a total stranger in a culture other than mine, genuinely seemed excited to read something I wrote and I really don't want to let them down.

I might, to be honest. I don't know this person's particular taste in books. Will she be offended by the harsh language that sometimes spills from Nero's lips? What about the action scenes? Will it bore her? I wrote the first book about 7 years ago as of the time of this blog post and I wasn't as good a writer then (not saying I'm particularly good now, just that I know I've improved). Should I have told her to start with book 3 just because it's more recent? Silly of me to think it, but I have to wonder if this goes through every author's mind when someone asks about their writing. For some I'm sure it does. I once heard that Ozzy Ozborne worries that no one will come to his concerts to this day (Joe Rogan Podcast #1155 with Henry Rollins). If Ozzy gets nervous, I'm sure everyone does at one point or another.

Still, here it is. I know it'll be weeks from now until I get a review from the rep—and that is if she remembers and doesn't hate the book (or maybe even if she does). By then I'll have forgotten how nervous I was getting off the phone, but won't it be a pleasant surprise to see that review pop up?

Fingers crossed.